Who Will Be the Next Victim of the Grand Bounce? A nonpartisan, nonjudgmental look at the “Hair-Trigger” Form of Government

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Minnesota: Bemidji Charter Commission overturns City Council push against recall

Interesting result here. The City Council disapproved of a recall with a 1-5 vote, but the Charter Commission overturned their vote and have sent it along for voters to vote on in Nov. 2012.

The amendment, if approved, would give voters the ability to recall an elected city councilor for malfeasance or nonfeasance while in office.
Five registered voters from one ward (or city, if the recall is aimed at an at-large representative) could come together for the purpose of recalling their councilor. They would draft a 250-word-or-fewer statement to that effect and file it with the city.
They then would need to begin gathering signatures from that ward’s residents in support of the petition. The number of needed signatures would be 20 percent of the number of people who voted in that ward in the last election.
If that occurs, an election would be called; all the voters in that ward would then vote on whether that councilor should be recalled.